Sewage lagoons were a topic of discussion for both the Village of Carbon and the Village of Rockyford during their regular council meetings held on Tuesday, September 7 and Wednesday, September 8 respectively.
In Carbon, at least one of the lagoon holding cells is having issues with back-up stemming from lack of maintenance. Sludge and slime was last cleaned from the lagoon in 1999 and was scheduled for maintenance in 2011. However, this maintenance was not completed and the lagoon is now a decade overdue for clean-up.
Along with overdue maintenance, council also heard how the lagoon is also in need of repairs, though this is not within the scope of the 2021 budget.
Due to the estimated cost, it was recommended repairs be budgeted for 2022. Council also discussed increasing the ATCO gas and electric franchise fees to help cover the anticipated lagoon repair costs.
Council proposed to increase the electric franchise fee from 5 per cent to 8 per cent, with the gas franchise fee proposed to increase to 16 per cent from 15.07 per cent. Prior to proceeding, the Alberta Utilities Commission will need to approve these changes; confirmation on the amount of revenue these increases will generate for the village were not available at press time.
The Village of Rockyford also discussed repairing their sewage lagoon and reviewed quotes from two contractors during their Wednesday, September 8 council meeting.
Council received a total of three quotes from two contractors and awarded the contract to Knibb Development.
Knibb had provided the village with two repair options, with a price difference of some $3,000; the first option would be to repair and replace affected pipes with PVC, while the second would use stainless steel. The PVC option would cost the village $16,000 and carry a one-year warranty while the stainless steel option would cost $19,000; however, the stainless steel option would carry a 10 year warranty.
Mayor Darcy Burke tells the Mail council went with the stainless steel repair option, and he adds the work is anticipated for completion this year to ensure the lagoon is operating correctly.
